Pension schemes
Within the context of the 2nd pillar of retirement provision, the FMA safeguards client protection by exercising supervision over pension schemes. In accordance with its legislative mandate, the FMA's supervision of pension schemes focuses on ensuring compliance with legal requirements as set out in the Occupational Pensions Act (OPA). Pension schemes must submit the foundation deed or articles of association and any regulations to the FMA for approval, which helps ensure that the pension schemes comply fully and at all times with the legal provisions governing the 2nd pillar. By auditing the financial statement and reporting on the business year as well as semi-annual reports, the FMA helps ensure that pension schemes are at all times able to meet their obligations toward associated undertakings and insured persons.
Disputes involving pension schemes, employers, employees, and claimants are decided by the regular courts. The FMA is thus in principle not able to be of immediate help to individual complainants in enforcing their claims against a supervised pension scheme. As the supervisory authority, the FMA may, however, play a type of mediation role during the pre-litigation phase and obtain information from the pension scheme. At all times, the FMA is required to remain objective in relations with the supervised undertakings and their clients.
In collaboration with the AHV, the FMA also verifies whether employers with employees subject to the insurance requirement are in fact associated with a pension scheme. If no such association exists, the FMA demands that the employer in question retroactively ensure association with a pension scheme. If the employer fails to comply with this demand, the employer is retroactively associated with a pension scheme by way of a decree with costs.